Rant of the Moment: Grocery Shopping
I have never, ever liked grocery shopping. I even hated it when I was a kid. Sure, I would beg for toys and sugary cereals and all that stuff when my mom took me along. But I also ended up on the verge of tearing my hair out by the time the trip was over. Because it was not at all unusual for it to take dear Mom an hour or two to get through the store. Not because she was such a cost-conscious shopper, but because she always ran into at least 4 or 5 people she knew, and would stand and talk to each of them for what seemed like an eternity.
When I got my driver’s license, she would often send me to get the groceries in her place. That I didn’t mind so much. She always gave me a detailed list, organized in the order in which I would find the items in the store. So I could zip through there in, like, ten minutes tops, and after that it was simply a matter of finding the shortest line, having each thing passed over the barcode scanner, grabbing the bags and going.
In fact, I got so fast at getting groceries, I would often ride around a bit and talk to a friend or two before I even went to the store. It came in handy for keeping some small semblance of a social life while grounded, because no one would ever be the wiser. Oh, and my high school sweetheart also happened to work at our preferred grocery store, so I’d often call ahead and see if he could schedule his break around the time I would be there.
Now, I’m back to hating grocery shopping. I still zip through the store pretty quickly, provided that it’s not crammed full of looky-loos that can’t decide which variety of pinto beans would best suit their needs. But if I happen to have Hubby with me, he incessantly rushes me through the store. Every few minutes, it’s “Is that all?” or “We don’t need anything else, do we?” or “Hurry up, I don’t want to miss wrestling!” Not fun, and it often results in me leaving without several of the things I needed most.
I’ll be glad when they start offering grocery delivery services around here. If that ever happens, that is. As far out in podonk as I live, I don’t think I should hold my breath.
